How One BTR Developer Is Aiming To Be Operationally Sustainable By Changing Resident Behaviour

It’s one thing to create an extremely energy-efficient building — the next step is to make sure that once it is in use, it is operationally sustainable.

To achieve this at a large-scale build-to-rent scheme, developers need to go beyond tools and technology to influence people’s behaviour, Moda Living Managing Director, Operations, Richard Smith said.

“The UK’s BTR sector is working hard to cut carbon emissions in the design and delivery of buildings, but there is less conversation about what happens when they’re up and running,” he said. “The pressure is on BTR operators to manage thousands of homes as sustainably as possible.” 

Moda Living is one such BTR developer and operator working to keep its developments sustainable long-term. The company currently has five operational city-centre neighbourhoods comprising more than 3,000 homes and has a pipeline of a further 24,000 homes across the UK. With this footprint, operational sustainability is crucial, Moda Living Director of Marketing and Wellbeing Lydia Eustace said.

“There are many opportunities for us to be as sustainable as possible because we invest in our communities for the long term,” she said. “You can’t focus on operational sustainability unless you’ve done the leg work first, such as building in energy-efficiency.”

Moda Living’s long-term approach to sustainability includes investing in equipment for apartments that allow residents to be more sustainable, including energy-efficient Samsung appliances and 100% recyclable furniture. The business has set itself a target of hitting net-zero operational carbon by 2030. 

The next step is to encourage residents to be more sustainable, Eustace said. Moda Living is trying to make it as easy as possible and to engage with them regularly to the point that it becomes a learned behaviour. 

When residents move in, they are given a handbook with tips on how to live sustainably and TV screens display messages to encourage sustainable living. Communal areas have a ban on single-use plastics and residents receive reusable cups. Moda Living uses HomeViews to ask residents what else they think Moda should be doing to go green, as the business is conscious it doesn’t have all the answers yet, Eustace said.

Technology and gamification are another key component in encouraging sustainable behaviour. Moda Living has turned energy-efficiency into a game through its MyModa app, created in collaboration with smart tech provider Utopi. 

Smart sensors in each home and communal area collect data on factors such as energy or water usage. Residents can see how they are performing compared to other apartments in their neighbourhoods, creating an anonymous league table. Moda Living has seen a reduction in energy use at sites where this app has been rolled out.

Moda Living also uses the data collected by Utopi to set and feed into its wider business targets and report to industry benchmarks. The company reports to GRESB on both business and asset performance, and it targets a combination of EPA, BREEAM and Home Quality Mark accolades across its family of rental platforms. 

“Measuring and setting targets is critical to know where you are starting,” Smith said. “The app allows us to identify what we are using and set goals. This is a huge aspect of ESG; people say they are acting sustainably, but they need to make themselves measurable. It takes a lot of teamwork and collaboration to deliver this.” 

Moda Living is sponsoring doctorates at universities to support research on how best to run a sustainable large-scale residential portfolio. Eustace herself is studying for a doctorate on how to use data to help residents change their behaviour and how to communicate in a way that educates them on sustainability.

“League tables and gamification are one way, but there are so many more,” she said. “We are looking at all types of communication, from how to word the messages to how to deliver them.”

Moda Living ensures that all employees understand the company’s ESG agenda during onboarding, which extends to health and wellness. Moda has more accreditations from healthy building certification body Fitwel than any other residential developer in the world, Smith said. All Moda employees are given a Fitbit to encourage their own wellness, with weekly team competitions and movement incentives, but also to help them understand how to create a healthy environment for residents. 

“Because Moda Living is a family business, the culture of care starts from the top, and ESG comes with this,” Smith said. “A recent staff survey showed that all employees understand our focus on ESG. We ask them for ideas on how to be more sustainable, from the technology we use to leasing structures.” 

ESG at Moda Living goes beyond the physical environment to include social sustainability, Smith said. As a long-term operator in its cities, Moda works to embed itself in local communities and support nearby skills, education and businesses. For example, each site is given the autonomy to select local charities to support, which allows the teams to engage with their communities and raise money for key local causes.

Moda Living is directing £450K of section 106 contributions to a programme putting work from local artists at the heart of the its new neighbourhood Hove Central, which will open this year. This strategy will build on Moda’s existing arts outreach in Hove, where the second of three 42-metre murals by local artists is about to be unveiled. In May, Moda Living will host events as a sponsor of the international Brighton Festival for the second year running. Moda is now looking to appoint an artist in residence for when the scheme opens to further involve residents and local community. 

“We could have just given the section 106 money to the council, but we chose to invest our time and resources to create public art that will enhance the community,” Eustace said. “The council and community members are really grateful for how we’ve collaborated with them. It’s a more resource-intensive approach to community engagement, but we think it’s the right thing to do and it is absolutely paying off.”

Moda Living launched its business-wide ESG strategy, Next Generation Futures, in 2022. This outlines the company’s roadmap to a series of set targets, including its net-zero carbon ambitions, zero gender pay gap and to raise more than £750K for local charities in the next three years. It paves the way for Moda to be as sustainable a business as possible from planning right through to the long term operation of its neighbourhoods, Smith said. It also adds value to the business and its properties. 

“Improving sustainability and reducing carbon emissions improves the attractiveness of assets,” he said. “Investors are keen to understand our journey, what we’re achieving and what technology we’re using. And we always prefer an investor with green credentials.” 

Eustace said that Moda works closely with its range of investors and stakeholders collaboratively to maximise its positive social and environmental impact. 

“We want to work with people and businesses from all over,” she said. “We can’t come up with all the solutions on our own. We always say, it takes a neighbourhood to change the world.”

This article was produced in collaboration between Moda Living and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.